Josh Heupel updates Tennessee Football's quarterback competition after second scrimmage

Tennessee football took part in the second scrimmage of fall camp on Friday morning inside Neyland stadium as as Joey Aguilar, Jake Merklinger and George MacIntyre continue to battle in the ongoing quarterback competition.

“I thought both of them handled themselves extremely well. George (MacIntyre) did as well,” Heupel said. “I thought they’d taken strides during the last three practices, before we got inside of the stadium for today’s scrimmage. Operated with crowd noise and some of those mechanics as well. So, there was more on the plate. They’ve handled it well. Been good decision-makers and continue to grow, both in understanding what we’re doing, defensive structure and fundamentally. Consistently being accurate with the football. Today they handled that pretty well throughout the course of it.”

Season Opener: Tennessee vs. Syracuse, August 30, Atlanta

Tennessee opens the regular season away from home, facing Syracuse on August 30 in the Aflac Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The Vols open the home schedule on September 6 against ETSU.

“You’re going to have to make tight throws. To me, interceptions happen when you don’t understand defensive structure. Your eyes aren’t in the right spot,” the coach said of his quarterbacks. “Fundamentally, your body is not in the right position, you’re not accurate with football. So it’s all of those pieces of the puzzle that come together for a quarterback to operate efficiently, take care of the football, while still playing on the right side of the fence of being aggressive and allowing yourself to make plays down the football field.”

Aguilar arrived at Tennessee in May and spent the summer learning Heupel’s offense. He transferred from UCLA after former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava signed with the Bruins out of the NCAA Transfer Portal. 

Aguilar, a native of Antioch, Calif., had transferred from Appalachian State to UCLA in December, after throwing for 6,760 yards, 56 touchdowns and 24 interceptions over 25 games in two seasons at App State.

“I thought he handled himself extremely well. That’s today, but I think he’s got better, from day one up until today’s scrimmage,” Heupel continued. “Really every single day. Comfort and control. He’s handled himself extremely well during our night walkthroughs, which is mental focus, mental sweat. And because of that, he’s extremely comfortable in what we’re doing right now.” 

Merklinger appeared in two games last season, completing 6 of 9 passes for 48 yards and running seven times for 22 yards. He was a four-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, ranked as the No. 12 quarterback nationally and the No. 23 overall prospect in the state of Georgia, out of Calvary Day School in Savannah. 

MacIntyre was a four-star prospect who was a headliner in Tennessee’s 2025 class, ranked as the No. 15 quarterback in the class and the No. 3 in-state prospect, out of Brentwood Academy.

“Again, at the end of the day, that guy’s got to be able to manage the football,” Heupel said of the eventual starting quarterback. “That’s your sideline communication, play clock situations, game clock situations. We do a lot of work on that. Controlling your offense, it’s the run game, it’s passing, it’s RPO, it’s protection. So most of those guys master it, take you out of negative place and also put yourself in a position to create big place.”